陸橋とヒトと生物の渡来 南西諸島への旧石器文化の拡散

Abstract

The author examined fossilized deer bones with forks at one or both ends which were excavated from the Gohezu cave of Ie-jima, Okinawa Prefecture, and whichhave been considered them as the result of shaping by hominids. He decided that they were not artificial, but in a much more advanced stage of bone damage due to chewing by deer himself as a result of osteophagia. So, at present, any archaeological evidences in palaeolithic age are not recognized inOkinawa Prefecture. Recently an amorphous flake industry with wedge shaped tools has been found in the layer, contained AT-tephra dated more than 20, 000 years B.P., at the Yaaya and Kisikawa, Amamioshima Island, Kagoshima Prefecture. The undated same industry, too, is reported from the Amangusuku, Tokunoshima Island, Kagoshima Prefecture. The author asserts that the flake industry in final Upper Pleistocene should been widely distributed throughout the Nansei (Southeastern) Islands of Okinawa and Kagoshima Prefecture. Further, the same flake industry with wedgeshaped tools exists at the Baxian-dong caves (5, 000-15, 000ys. B.P.) in Eastern Taiwan, Lang Rongrien rockshelter (27, 000-37, 000 ys. B.P.) in Southwestern Thailand, and Devil's Lair cave (12, 000-31, 000 ys. B.P.) in Southwestern Australia. The author thinks that the prehistoric people with the flake industry had adapted themselves to coastal environment somewhere around Southeast Asia about 30, 000 years ago, because of findingsof fish bone sand fishing tools from the sites. They had known about the technology how to sail across the sea, and dispersed on each islands northward along the Nansei Islands from the cradle of flake industry in Southeast Asia until 20, 000 years ago.